Elizabeth NEWMAN

Elizabeth married Daniel BRIGGS on 24 Nov 1704 in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA. Daniel was born about 1685; died in 1779 in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
"Connecticut Ancestry": Thomas Newman died at Stamford between 21 May and 2 October 1714, the dates of his will and its probate. No basis has been found for estimating the date of his birth, since none of the dates of his marriage or the births of any of his children seem to have been recorded. Some references give the year of his birth as 1643, but without giving any reasons.

His wife's name was Mary ? as given in his will and the distribution of his estate. We have no further information on her, including whether or not she was the other of all of his children.

His will was dated at Stamford on 21 May 1714, and mentioned his wife Mary, and his children John, Nathaniel, Jonathan, Thomas and son in law Daniel Briggs. The executrix was to be his wife Mary Newman, and the witnesses were John Holly, James June and Ebenezer Smith. The original will has been preserved, and it can be seen that he signed with a signature, although with a very unsteady hand. His inventory was taken on 2 September and filed 1 November 1714.

His children were parties to an agreement made on 1 Dec 1729 along with Robert Harris, to build a saw mill "on the Mianus river about eight rods south of Nathaniel Newman's dwelling house." The agreement was witnessed by John Bell, and signed by Robert Harris, John Newman, Daniel Briggs, Jonathan Newman, Thomas Newman, and Nathaniel Newman (his X mark).

Thomas married Mary ? about 1685 in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA. Mary was born about 1664 in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA; died after 1714. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
"Connecticut Ancestry": William Newman was born about 1610, and died at Stamford between 18 August and 18 November 1676, the dates of his will and its probate..A wife Elizabeth ? for whom we have no further information, was named in his will.

He and his father were both settlers of Stamford during its first year, 1642. They probably did not come from Wethersfield with the majority of the other early settlers, but their place of origin is still unknown.

the lands of William Newman were recorded at Stamford on 1 March 1649/50 as follows:

1. One house and home lot containing an acre and a half, Bounded by William Graves to the east, John Elliot west, abutting the highway north and the meadows south;
2. Also another house and house lot, containing 3 acres, bounded by Nicholas Knapp and common land to the north, Henry Ackerly, William Potter and Common Land south, butting to the highway west and the common east;
3. In the North Field, 12 acres of upland, bounded by David Mitchell north, Nicholas Theale south, butting to the fence east, and the River west;
4. In the same field, 10 more acres of upland, bounded by Thomas Newman south, Nicholas Knapp north, butting to the highway east, and the River west;
5. In the same field, 3 more acres of upland, bounded by the rails (fence) east, Henry Smith and Francis Bell west, Thomas Neman south, Francis Bell north;
6. In Rocky Neck, 7 1/2 acres of upland, 4 1/2 acres of the said parcel is waste land, bounded by Francis Bell to the south, William Mead to the north, butting to William Mead, thomas Morehouse & Thomas Newman west, Nicholas Knapp east, a highway through the west end of it;
7. In the East Field, 4 acres of meadow, bounded by Thomas Hyatt south, Vincent Simkins north, butting Henry Ackerly west, the highway east, with 12 rods fence as it was layed out by ?;
8. In the same field, 6 acres meadow down in the South field fence belonging (?), bounded by Vincent Simkins on the south and north, butting to the highway east, Jeffery Ferris and John Finch west;
9. In the same field, 2 more acres of meadow, bounded by Daniel Scofield south, Henry Ackerly north, butting to the highway west, and Jonas Weed east.

Difficulties with the Court at New Haven in 1654 (along with his father) have already been described. Just prior to his father's death, on 25 May 1659, the New Haven Court turned to William Newman to settle a dispute that was current in the colony concerning "wrong done in the sizes of shooes." William Newman of Stamford was said to have been in the possession of an instrument that he had brought from England, that was capable of determining the correct sizes of shoes, and that instrument was ordered to be bought to New Haven to serve as model for a standard to be made to serve the needs of the entire Colony. There is no further information on this subject, and we may assume that William either complied, or the illness and death of his father intervened in the completion of this project.

His will was dated at Stamford on 18 August (6th month) and probated on 18 November (9th month) 1676. He mentioned his wife Elizabeth, and children Thomas, Daniel, "John" (who died before the probate), Sarah, Elizabeth and Hannah. His inventory was taken and filed on the date of probate. Also on the same date of probate, an agreement was made between and among the (remaining) heirs.

William married Elizabeth BOWSTREET. Elizabeth was born in Nov 1621 in England; died in 1676. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
"Connecticut Ancestry": Thomas Newman made his will at East Towne in New Netherland (later the town of Westchester in Westchester County, New York) on 2 June 1659, and died sometime in March, 1660, possibly at Stamford. He was born presumably in England, about 1584. The Rev. Mr. Huntington called him "probably son of William," but this may simply have been a deduction based on the name of Thomas' oldest son.

The name of his wife and mother of his children has been given as MARY MORRTON, apparently based on a marriage record for Thomas Newman and Mary Moorton at St. Saviours Church, Southwark, Surrey, England dated 28 September 1607. No confirmation has been found, however, that this record refers to the same Thomas Newman of Stamford and east towne. It has also been claimed that he married one Mary Carles, daughter of joseph Carles, and this is probably related to the fact that his will mentioned a GRANDDAUGHTER named Mary Carles, who married John Archer. The granddaughter could have been his own, or his wife's or both of theirs together, and therefore, Catherine Carles is not necessarily a descendant. His will uses the specific phrase "my now surviving wife Mary," but this does not automatically mean that he was married more than once, or even that he had two different wives named Mary. the will further stipulates that his son William Newman of Stamford was to provide for his widow "in all respects whatsoever as a woman of her age & degree ought to be, during her surviving." This mention of "degree" could indicate a particular social status, which could lead in turn to a better indication of the widow's identity.....

Another Thomas Newman is said to have come to America in 1634 on the ship "Mary and John", along with his father William, wife Mary, and son John. This Thomas Newman has sometimes been confused with the Stamford man, but they were entirely different persons. Thomas Newman of Ipswich, the "Mary and John" passenger, was leaving records there in Ipswich, Massachusetts in about 1673, leaving a widow Alice, who died 19 November 1679. Savage said that he left sons Thomas, John and Benjamin, and these persons are evident in the Ipswich records. Thomas Newman of Stamford mentioned no such people in his will.

Donald L. Jacobus thought it possible that William Newman of Stamford (and therefore Thomas of Stamford) may have been related to one Richard Newman who was in New Haven in 1641, died after 1680, and had children Samuel, John, Sarah and Mercy. Except for this possible clue, there seems to be no other indication of Thomas Newman's origin, presumably in England.

The lands of Thomas Newman were records at Stamford on 1 March 1649/50 as part of a general recording project that took place at that tie. His holdings then were the following:

1. One house and home lot containing an acre and a half, bounded by the highway north, Robert Rugg south, butting to the highway east and Jeffrey Ferris west;
2. In the North Field 6 acres of upland, bounded by Daniel Scofield and Henry Ackerly on the south, and Henry Smith and william Newman to the north, butting to the highway west and the fence east;
3. In the East Field a little island encompassed with (by?) the meadow of David Mitchell on the east and north, and the meadow of Obadiah Seeley to the south and west;
4. In the same field, 5 more acres of meadow, bounded by Robert BAtes to the south, Richard Ambler to the north, butting to the highway west and the Sea east;
5. In the Rocky Neck, 2 acres of meadow, bounded by Thomas Morehouse to the south & William Mead on the north, butting to the highway west, and the upland of William Newman to the east;
6. In the North Field, 3 acres of upland, bounded by thomas Morehouse to the south, William Newman north, butting to the highway east and the River west.

Thomas Newman was one of the Stamford residents who were uncomfortable with the government of their Colony located at New Haven, and apparently had signed a letter that was "very offensive" to the Court at New Haven in 1653. William Newman was summoned to the Court representing his father "in respect of his age", and expressed to the Court that both he and his father were sorry for the disrespectful things they had done, and that it would not happen again. William Newman was not fined, but was required to post a L20 bond to help insure that both he and his father would be more cooperative with the New Haven jurisdiction in the future.

Possibly because of this political difficulty with the New Haven jurisdiction, Thomas Newman moved to Oost-dorp or East Towne New Netherland (later the town of Westchester), some time before 16 March 1656 (probably 1655/56) when his name was listed among the 14 English residents of that place that "voluntarily submitted themselves to the government of the New Netherlands." At the end of December 1656 an official delegation fro Director General Peter Stuyvesant's office visited East Town. The delegation dines at Mr. Newman's home on Sunday 31 December after which the delegation attended church services with the inhabitants of the village. That portion of their journal reads as follows:

"Went to examine the Village somewhat. It is a very stoney place, thickly covered with trees. At noon were invited to dine at Mr. Newman's. After dinner Conrelius Van Ruyven went to the house where they assemble on Sundays, to observe their mode of worship, as they have not as yet any clergyman. There I (Briah Nuton) found a gathering of about 15 men and 10 to 12 women. Mr. Baly (BAiley) made a prayer, which being concluded, one Robert Basset read a sermon from a printed book composed and published by an English minister in England. After the reading Mr. Baly made another prayer and they sung a Psalm and separated. In the evening we were invited to supper to Robert Basset's, and having taken our leave we went to sleep at John Lord's house; neither he nor any of the members of his family came home that night, which much surprised us."

The journal goes on to report that John Lord and his family returned in the morning and that they had stayed away overnight in order that the official visitors not be overcrowded in what must have been a very modest home in a wilderness location. It also mentioned that on the following day, 1 January 1657:
"We requested him (meaning John Lord) to have the drum beaten forthwith to get the people together; to which he said, he had given orders to beat the drum, and the majority of the inhabitants being assembled we communicated to them the object of our mission, and that the Hr Director General of N. Netherland had from the six persons named by them elected three as Magistrates for Oostdorp, vix. Mr. Newman, Mr. Lord, & John Smith, and exhibited and read to them the commission granted to the Magistrates."

His will, made on 2 June 1659 at East Town, is the source of much of the information we presently have on Thomas Newman, and many of its provisions have already been noted. He called himself, "in good health of body and of sound minde & understanding, yet not knowing how soone my chang may be..." Because we know he was in good health and sound mind it is therefore significant that he signed the will with his mark, a capital letter N, written backwards. It named his wife Mary and son William of Stamford and left legacies to his granddaughter "Katherine Carles alias Archer, the wife of John Archer" (20 shillings), and to "every of his (William's) surviving children at my decease, the sume of five pounds per piece." His son William was to be executor, and to receive the entire estate, except for the above provisions for others and his responsibility to care for the widow. The will was witnessed by Richard Mills and Samuel Mills, transcribed and attested under oath by them at Stamford before the town clerk Richard Law on 22 day 12th month, 1660, or 22 February, 1659/60.

Thomas married Mary UNKNOWN. Mary was born in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]